Report warns over climate change

Africa will go "up in smoke" unless the international community acts to curb climate change, a report has warned.

A coalition of the UK's leading development and environment agencies says that global warming is already having a serious impact on Africa and will get much worse unless urgent action is taken now.

The report is released in the run-up to the next major United Nations Conference on climate change in Nairobi and the publication of the Treasury's Stern review on the economics of the problem.

"Africa - Up in Smoke 2" is based on the latest available scientific research and evidence from those living on the front line of global warming.

Africa is already warmer by 0.5 degrees Centigrade than it was 100 years ago, which is putting more strain on water resources. According to the Hadley Centre, temperature increases over many areas of Africa will be double the global average increase, and drought patterns stand to worsen catastrophically.

The coalition calls for rich countries to make good their promises to reduce greenhouse gases made at Kyoto and go beyond them. It also calls for an overhaul of humanitarian relief and development; for donors to fund urgent measures to help communities adapt to a new and more erratic climate; and for donors and African governments to tackle poverty and invest in agricultural development.

Africa is the continent probably most vulnerable to climate change and the one that faces the greatest challenges to adapt. For millions of people in the Horn and East Africa, the success or failure of rains due over the next two months will be critical. Whether the rains fall will determine if 2007 will offer the prospect of recovery from the serious drought of 2005-06 or will be another year of desperate struggle to survive.

Although the climates of Africa have always been erratic, the latest scientific research, together with the on-the-ground experience of the agencies themselves, indicates new and dangerous extremes, continual warming and more unpredictable weather patterns. The success or failure of one rainy season, or even several, cannot be attributed to global warming.

The report quotes the experience of ordinary African people and catalogues the impact of rising temperatures, more frequent and severe droughts in some places, more torrential rains in others and greater climatic uncertainty for the continent's farmers.

Climatic unpredictability increases the pressure on people's lives and livelihoods from poverty, HIV/AIDS and government neglect. Women and rural societies are under the greatest pressure.